


Oct 13: Owl

by MadhouseVagabond



Series: Scarefest Challenges 2017 [13]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Death, FYRTFF Scarefest Challenge 2017, Fear, Gen, Horror, Major character death-don't get too attached, Scarefest Challenge 2017, car crash, owl - Freeform, running for their lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-15
Updated: 2017-10-15
Packaged: 2019-01-17 18:58:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12371991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadhouseVagabond/pseuds/MadhouseVagabond
Summary: He'd been warned all his childhood, kept safe and alive because of it. But one mistake, one bad decision leads Jeremy Dooley to understand just how dire those warnings were.





	Oct 13: Owl

_Don't ever go out at night!_

That had been the warning Jeremy had heard all his young life from his mother and father. The young man never knew what they'd meant because every time he'd ask why they'd fall silent, exchanging grave looks with each other. Jeremy never knew why it was wrong to be out at night, that is until one day years later when he was an adult.

Jeremy and his pals had decided to make a late night pizza run, Matt being a strong advocate for this decision. They all ignored the dread in their hearts as they drove down the road to the pizza joint, trying not to let their parents' warnings get to them. Jeremy was in the back seat of the six passenger car, crammed back there with Trevor and Mica, while Matt, Andy, and Gavin were in the front. Trying to ignore the obnoxious bickering going on amongst the others, Jeremy gazed out the window at the passing landscape as they passed the forest that covered a good section of their small city. It was the same ol same ol, the fallen old oak tree, the large boulder shaped like an old Indian arrowhead, the creepy glowing eyes...

Jeremy sat up straighter, eyes going wide as he looked out the window again, rubbing them and blinking several times to make sure he wasn't seeing things. Nope, there in the forest just beyond the last visible tree before the sea of darkness was a pair of glowing red eyes, eyes that watched the car.

"Guys..." Jeremy began to say before the car lurched and gave out a sputtering and clanking noise.

"Shit! Hold on assholes!" Matt yelled as he struggled to regain control of the car, the vehicle finally swerving off the road and into the ditch, flipping several times, coming to a stop and landing on its roof, tires spinning and internal lights flickering.

Jeremy groaned and felt his head, praying that his hand wouldn't come away bloody. He breathed a painful sigh of relief when he saw that there was no blood. Carefully releasing himself from his seatbelt he fell to the roof of the car, wincing as the sound of crunching glass met his ears. He saw that his window had shattered, but somehow none of the glass had hit him or cut him in the roll. He groaned in pain again and looked around for his friends.

Matt was still in the front seat with Andy, the two having enough sense to buckle in, Andy having a nasty cut on his forehead that was bleeding. The airbags had saved the two from a not-so-pleasant fate. Jeremy squeezed his eyes shut when he felt a pain in his head, hoping he hadn't suffered a concussion. Trevor was also gaining consciousness beside him, about in the same shape as Jeremy.

"Trevor?" Jeremy asked as he adjusted himself to help his friend out of his seatbelt.

"Ow! Let's never do that again!" Trevor groaned as he fell to the roof of the upturned car.

"Help me get Matt and Andy out, they're hurt," Jeremy said. Trevor nodded and managed to get his door open. Jeremy started crawling towards his broken window when he heard it.

Screaming.

He froze and looked out the window, spotting Gavin not too far away, limping towards them as fast as he could, a dark shape following close behind. Jeremy watched in horror as Gavin was hit and thrown to the ground before being dragged into the darkened forest, reaching out desperately for his friends at the car, his screams soon fading.

"What the fuck?!" Jeremy exclaimed.

"What was that?" Trevor asked in a panicked voice as he pulled Andy from the car, dragging him a few paces away before returning for Matt.

"We gotta get out of here!" Jeremy yelled and scrambled to the window. Matt and Andy were slowly coming to, groaning in pain as they sat up.

"Where's Mica?" Trevor shouted as he looked around for their friend.

Jeremy was halfway through the window when he saw it again, the glowing red eyes. His blood ran cold as the eyes appeared in the forest and began drawing nearer and nearer.

"Trevor, Matt, Andy run!" he screamed. The trio looked up and paled as a tall shadowy figure emerged from the forest, the ground shaking at every step.

"C'mon!" Trevor yelled and tugged Andy up to his feet as Matt scrambled to his. Matt raced to help Jeremy out of the car, bending down and grabbing the lad by his wrists and pulling.

"Andy!"

The two looked over as Trevor went flying into the air, landing a few feet away, the tall figure letting out a terrifying screech as it pounced on Andy, the kid screaming helplessly as the creature tore him apart.

"Matt get me the fuck out of here!" Jeremy cried. Matt tugged one more time and Jeremy was free, not bothering to check if his lower body was injured, he stood and pulled Matt with him as the two ran to Trevor.

They managed to pull Trevor to his feet and the three ran in the only direction that didn't have death staring at them, the forest. Everything in Jeremy screamed at him not to enter the dark wood, but panic and adrenaline spurred him onwards, pulling his friends after him. They needed to find shelter, needed to get help. The darkness surrounded them, it was almost thick enough to slice with a knife. They paused to catch their breath.

"Did-did you get a good look at it?" Jeremy panted looking at Trevor.

"No, but when it hit me it didn't hurt me as much as I was expecting it too, it was just forceful. It's almost crazy but I could've sworn..." Trevor's voice drifted off.

"What?" Matt asked.

"Don't laugh okay? I could've sworn that when it hit me it felt like feathers brushing against me," Trevor said. The two stared at him then exchanged looks.

"So...what? It's a giant fucking bird?" Jeremy asked. Trevor shrugged.

"There's no way that thing was a bird! It was at least ten feet tall!" Matt exclaimed. Suddenly there was a loud shriek and the ground shook as something landed near the trio, nearly knocking them to the ground. Jeremy whirled around and paled when he saw the red eyes.

"Oh for fuck's sake!" he yelled and they turned and ran. The sounds of pursuit followed them, getting closer and closer, Jeremy could almost feel the creature's breath on his back. He reached out and grabbed Matt's hand as they ran.

"Agh! Guys help!" Trevor screamed as he fell. Jeremy skidded to a stop and turned to help his friend, only to watch helplessly as the creature bent down and ripped the young man in half, Trevor's screams of pain getting cut off.

Matt tugged him onwards and the two ran, tears in their eyes. They ran as fast as they could, darting in sporadic zigzag patterns hoping that'd throw the creature off. Jeremy nearly cried with relief when he spotted a break in the treeline up ahead and a road there.

"Matt! We've made it!" he exclaimed. Just then they heard the shriek of the creature from above them, Jeremy throwing himself forward and rolling just as the creature landed. He looked up and sobbed when he realized that Matt hadn't been as quick, or as lucky. He could just make out Matt's outstretched hand from under the creature's foot, which he could now see more clearly was a horrifying taloned foot.

His gaze ran up the foot and legs to meet a feathery body, then a sharp beak, and finally, a rounded head with glowing red eyes set in the sockets. Tears streamed down his face as he crawled backwards, knowing that his fate was sealed, the creature lowering its giant head and stalking after him.

"Please, no! Just go away! Please don't!" Jeremy sobbed as he felt a tree press up against his back, the creature pausing and cocking its head. The lad watched terrified as it leaned its head forward, the light of the moon catching it to reveal the giant head of an owl, the biggest he'd ever seen.

The owl clacked its beak a few times, Jeremy wincing each time, then reached out a taloned foot slowly towards its prey. Jeremy sobbed as he watched the limb get closer to him, the talon finally brushing up against his cheek, seeming to wipe away a tear. Jeremy didn't dare move, certain that he'd shit his pants several minutes ago. The creature's talon traveled downwards from Jeremy's face and hooked his shirt by the collar, tugging him forward. The lad's eyes filled with tears as he felt his body go limp, giving up to the inevitable, soft pathetic cries escaping his lips.

"Please, don't eat me!" he cried. The beak was only a few inches from his face, the terrified man could almost see his reflection in it.

"I'm sorry," he said and closed his eyes, waiting for the pain of being ripped to shreds to take him. The feeling never came. He felt the owl push him gently back towards the tree, releasing his shirt. He opened his eyes and saw the owl seemed to have wet eyes too. Shocked, Jeremy didn't even notice that the owl had pinned him to the tree with its foot, a slight discomfort when it slowly dragged its talons across his chest, leaving two cuts in his chest before it stepped back, gave him one last look, and then vanished into the night.

When Jeremy regained consciousness in the morning he was in a hospital bed and had nurses and doctors scrambling around him to make sure he was okay. Apart from the horrors of seeing his friends murdered, all Jeremy came away from the incident with were two scars across his chest, a grim reminder to never go outside at night.


End file.
